Wire-connector.



A. SCHMIDT.

WIRE CONNECTOR.

APPLIUATION FILED JULY 20, 1907.

91 5 ,046. Patented Mar. 9, 1909.

I an e- H" WITNESSES A TTORNE Y5 of Kentucky,

this character that may be ANDREW SCHMIDT, OF PADUOAH, KENTUCKY,ASSIGNOR TO EDWARD K. BONDS OF PADUOAH, KENTUCKY.

WIRE-CONNECTOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 9, 1909.

Application filed July 20, 1907. Serial No. 384,775.

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that 1, ANDREW Somsnnr, a citizen of the United States,residing at Paducah, in the county of McCracken and State have inventeda new and useful ire-Connector, of which the following is aspecification.

My present invention relates to improvements in devices for connectingwires, such as those used in telephone and telegraph, trolley systems,wire fencing, and in various other places wherein it is desirable tojoin wires quickly and eifectually, and it has for its object to providean improved device of made to sell cheaply, and which, in practice, iscapable of joining the abutting ends of wires without the necessity ofbending them sharply and thus weakening them, although it obtains a firmgrip on the wires when the latter are under tension.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved device of thischaracter that engages the wire ends in such a way that a it forms agood electrical contact, so that the device is useful as a mechanicalconnector, and as an electrical connector as well.

To these and other ends, the invention comprises the various novelfeatures of construction and combination and arrangement of parts, whichwill be hereinafter more fully described and pointed out particularly inthe accompanying drawings.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of a section of a wire fenceshowing its strands united by connectors constructed in accordance withthe present invention. Fig. 2 is a detail view of a connector and theabutting wire ends, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the connector.

Corresponding parts in the several figures are indicated throughout bysimilar characters of reference.

As previously stated, the connector is capable of use generally incoupling wires that are employed for various purposes, the device beingcapable of providing an eiiicient electrical, as well as a mechanical,connection between the wire ends, and it will be understood that theconnector is shown employed for the purpose of joinin the strands of awire fence merely to show one application of the invention.

The connector shown in the presentembodiment of the invention comprisesgenerally a coupling piece 1 which may be composed of a casting or astamping of a suitable metal which is preferably flat in cross sectionin order that it may be firmly gripped by the hand and thus held fromrotation while the the other wire without causing short bends in eitherwire. The opposite ends of the coupling are perforated by the wirereceiving apertures, and they extend at angles other than right anglesrelatively to the longitudinal edges of the coupling in order to providea pair of surfaces 5 and 6 which lie in planes arranged at obtuse anglesrelatively to the length of the wires, and these surfaces each form anobtuse angle relatively to one of the longitudinal edges of thecoupling, and an acute angle relatively to the other longitudinal edgethereof.

In applying the coupling, the wire ends to be connected are introducedinto the opposite ends of the respective wire receiving aperturespreferably at those corners of the coupling at which the acute anglesare formed between the ends and the longitudinal edges of the coupling.The ends of the respective wires are then bent laterally in a directiontoward the adjacent wire and coiled one or more times around the same,said coiled ends bearing against the inclined surfaces at the ends ofthe coupling, thus insuring an obtuse bend in the wire. The connectionthus formed prevents bending of the wire at such angles as wouldmaterially reduce its tensile strength, and is generally preferable, asthe tension on the wires will cause their ends to slip slightlyrelatively to coupling and thereby cause a binding action between theconvolutions of the wire ends and the cooperating wires, and also asimilar action between the wire ends at the points where the angular.ends of the coupling form obtuse angles with the walls of theapertures, the binding action being thereby distributed in suchproportion that the wire is not unduly strained at one point. However,injusing end of each 0 some kinds of wire, a positive locking jointcould be obtained by reversing the mode of applying the wires to the couling, that is to say, by inserting the wire en s into the wire receivingapertures at the obtuse corners of the coupling, and then bending theprotruding wire ends arallel to the respective surfaces at the en 5 ofthe coupling, acute angles will be formed in the wire ends which willpositively prevent relative longitudinal movement between. the wires andthe coupling, the ends of the wires being coiled, as previouslydescribed.

lmportance is attached to the fact that the ends of the connector arebeveled as shown because they permit a straighter pull upon each wirethan does an ordinary connector of rectangular outline. Moreover, whenthe connector is used with stifl' or highly tempered wire said wire willnot become broken because of the fact that it is not necessary to bendit at a right angle to make the necessary connection. This isparticularly true of fencing wire.

A wire connector constructed in accordance with my present invention iscapable of being readily a plied, and serves to effectually secure thewire ends without the necessity of bending the wire to such an extent aswould impair its tensile strength, and it may be manufactured cheaplyand presents a neat appearance. Moreover, it is especially eflicientwhen employed for the purpose of joining the strands of fencing, for

the reason that each connection so made will stretch uniformly, and,consequently, all the strands of the fence will be under equal tension.1

What is claimed is A wire connector comprising a flat metal block ofrhomboid outline having two longitudinal openings therethrough parallelto the base of said rhomboid block through which openings the Wires tobe connected are passed in opposite directions so that their endsproject from the ends of the block nearest the obtuse angles thereof,the inclined ends of said block forming a bearing surface for theobtusely bent ends of said wire when they are turned up and coiledaround the strands of the opposite wires.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto afliXedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ANDREN SCHMIDT.

Witnesses:

ADDISON Y. CLAY, Jos. R. GRoGAN.

